Steam steering-gear.



No. 789.836. v PATENTED'MAY 16, 1905.

v R. BODENLOS. STEAM STEERING GEAR. APPLICATION FILED 1150.29. 1904.

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s v W E 27 I :INVENTOR AlzorneyA No. 789,836. PATENTED MAY 16, 1905.

R. BODBNLOS.

STEAM STEERING GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED 1130.29, 1904.

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INI/ENTOR Alloy/19%,

PATENTED MAY 16, 1905.

R. BODENLOS. STEAM STEERING GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 29, 1904.

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INVENTOR UNTTED STATES Patented May 16, 1905,

PATENT OEEIcE.

STEAM STEERING-GEAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 789,836, dated May 16,1905.

Application filed December 29,1904. Serial No. 238,754.

To all whom 2Z2 may concern.-

Be it known that 1, ROBERT BODENLOS, a citi- Zen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Steam Steering-Gears, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to steam steeringgears; and its object is toremedy defects incident to old constructions and to provide an apparatusby which the operation of the engine which turns the cable-drum can beeasily controlled. A direct connection is provided from thesteering-wheel to the throttle-valve of the engine, and means areprovided to disengage the hand steering-gear, so that when thesteam-gear is in operation practically the only labor to be performed bythe helmsman is to move the throttle-valve as he desires. Automaticstops are provided to close the valve and stop the engine when therudder is set or becomes hard over.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a general side view of thegear, parts being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of theparts below deck. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the wheel-stand. Fig. 4is a top view of a traveling stop-nut. Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammaticelevation and plan of the invention as applied to a vessel where thesteering-engine is distant from the wheelhouse.

Referring specifically to the drawings, 6 indicates the wheel-stand,containing the upright shaft 7, which extends through the deck to thesteam steering-gear below. The shaft has at the top a bevel-gear 8,meshing with a bevel-gear 9 on the wheel-shaft 10. This shaft isthreaded for a portion of its length and carries a nut 11, whichoperates the pointer at 12, to indicate the direction, in a knownmanner. Below deck the shaft 7 has a bevelgear 13, which meshes with thebevel-gear 14 on the drum-shaft 15. It is obvious that if thewheel-shaft 10 be turned, as in hand-steering, the drum-shaft will beturned accordingly; also, that if the drum-shaft be turned by the steamsteering-gear the upright shaft 7 and wheel-shaft 10 and pointer 12 willbe turned accordingly.

The wheel 16 is loose on its shaft, and in the operation of the steamsteering gear it is turned independently thereof. It carries one member,17, of a clutch, the other member, 18, of which is fast on the shaft 10.When hand steering is to be done, the wheel is shoved in on the shaftand the clutch members engage. The shafts and drum can then be turned bythe hand-wheel. Normally, of course, the steam-gear will be used, thehandgear being used only in case of disablement of the steam-gear orother unusual condition. It will be seen that one wheel serves for bothgears.

The engine of the steam steering-gear is indicated at A, geared to thewinding-drum in any suitable manner, unnecessary to describe here, as itforms no part, of my invention, which has to do with the means forcontrolling the engine.

Connected to the wheel 16 is a rod 19, which extends through the deckand down beside the shaft 7 This rod is movable up and down throughguide-brackets 20 and carries stop-collars 21.

22 is a nut which travels on a threaded portion 23 of the shaft 7, andthe nut has an arm 24, which projects between the stop-collars 21 andhas a slot 25, through which the rod 19 extends. The stop-collars areset so as to be struck by the arm of the nut when or just before thehard-over positions are reached.

The lower end of the rod 19 is connected by a rod 26 to one arm of abell-crank 27, the other arm of which is connected by a draglink 28 toone arm of a lever 29, which is pivoted at 30 upon a bracket 31,adjacent the throttle-valve casing 32 of the engine. The other arm ofthe lever 29 is connected to the stem 33 of the reversing and throttlepiston valve 34 of known construction. valve is moved to one end of itscasing, it starts the engine in one direction, and when it is moved tothe other end it starts the engine in the other direction, and when itis moved to middle position it stops the engine.

The operation of the steam-gear is as follows: By giving thesteering-wheel 16 a small turn, which need not be over one-eighth, theconnecting-rods 19 and 26 are raised or low- When the ered, and by thebell-crank and lever connections the throttle-valve is moved and theengine is started in the desired direction. This turns the winding-drumand its shaft and also the upright shaft 7, as above described. The turnof the shaft 7 causes the nut 22 to travel up or down thereon, and whenthe hard-over position is reached the arm of. the nut strikes thestop-collar 21, and carrying the rods and connections with it, bringsthe throttle-valve back to mid-position, which in consequence stops theengine and leaves the .helm hard over until further manipulation. Toswing the helm back, the engine is started again, in the reverse, bymoving the steering-wheel in the opposite direction. In either operationthe engine will be stopped in the hard-over position by the automaticstopping devices, the direction of the screw 23 being such that the nut22 will move the rod 19 in the direction opposite to its movement whenthe engine was started. If it be desired to stop the engine before it isbrought to a standstill by the automatic device, it is simply necessaryto bring the hand-wheel 16 to the mid-position, which shuts the throttleand stops the engine. So it is not necessary for the helmsman to do morethan to turn the hand-wheel slightly one way or the other, whichever wayhe wants the engine to work, until the rudder is brought to the desiredposition, as shown by the indicator on the top of the wheelstand. Theonly exertion required is that sufficient to move the throttle-valve andits connections, and the throttle being a pistonvalve is nicely balancedand works very easily. When it is desired to use the hand-gear, it isdone by engaging the clutch as above referred to and by disconnectingthe rod 19 from the wheel by removing the pin 19 by which it is attachedthereto.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate a modification in which the pilot-house is atthe bow and the steering-engine at the stern of the vessel and in whichconsequently long connections must be used, the principle of theoperation, however, remaining the same. In these views the wheel-standshaft 7 carries a drum 40 and the upright shaft 7 carries a drum 41. Acable 42 extends around these drums, so that the motion of one iscommunicated to the other with the same effect as if the'shafts weredirect connected. The connections from the wheel to the rod 28 at thecontrolling-valve of the engine include drums 53 and 44, around whichextends a light cable 45. The drum 13 is carried on a rock-shaft 46,operated by a crank-arm 17, connected to one end of a lever 48, theother end of which is connected to the rod 19. The drum 14 is carried ona rockshaft 49, which hasa crank-arm 50 connected to a rod 19 Theportions 19 and 19 correspond to the rod 19 above and below deck shownin the other views. In this construction-that is, the one shown in Figs.5 and 6- the connections between the wheel and the throttle-valve permitof its operation in a manner similar to that above described, since thedrums will be turned or rocked and the connections moved accordingly.Also the cable 42 and the drums around which it extends will operate theindicator in the wheel-stand.

Having thus described my invention, what is new, and desired to besecured by Letters Patent, is

1. In a ships steering-gear, in combination, a hand-gear having awheel-shaft, a powergear having a controlling-valve mechanism, and ahelmsmans wheel loose on the wheelshaft and engageable with either thehand-gear or the valve mechanism and disengageable with the other, tosteer the ship with either gear.

2. Ina ships steering-gear, in combination, a power-gear, a hand-gearhaving a wheelshaft, an engine for the power-gear having a controllingand reversing valve, ahelmsmans wheel loose on said shaft, detachableconnections between the wheel and the valve to operate the latter, and aclutch for connecting the wheel and shaft when the said connections aredetached.

3. In aships steering-gear, in combination, a power-gear and its enginehaving a controlling and reversing valve, a rod connected to said valveand arranged to be operated by the helmsman, stops on the rod, ascrew-shaft geared to the winding-drum of the powergear, and a travelingnut on said screw, having a projection extending between the stops inposition to strike the same and shift the rod to close the valve whenthe helm is hard over.

4:. In a ships steering-gear, in combination, a winding-drum, avalve-controlled motor and a hand-wheel shaft geared thereto, ahandwheel loose on the shaft and having a clutch engageable therewith,and detachable connections between the hand-wheel and the valve of themotor.

5. In a ships steering-gear,in combination, a winding -drum, a powergear connected thereto, an upright shaft geared to the drum andextending to the wheel-stand and having a threaded portion, awheel-shaft on the stand, geared to said shaft, ahelmsmans wheel looseon the wheel-shaft and having a clutch engageable therewith, a rodconnected to the wheel and to the controlling devices of the powergearand extending beside the upright shaft, stops on the rod, and atraveling nut on the threaded portion of the upright shaft, having aprojection arranged to strike the stops, for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT BODENLOS. Witnesses:

I JOHN A. BOMMHARDT,

LOTTIE 'NEWBURN.

